Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Border Wall

The Trump administration wants use to certain funds from the National Defense Authorization Act to build a wall and provide security at our southern border.  Several lawsuits have been brought claiming that using the funds in such a way violates federal law.

At least one federal trial court judge agrees.

A federal district judge issued a permanent injunction on Friday blocking construction of President Donald Trump’s border wall, holding that it was illegal for his administration to spend current funding for that purpose.  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will immediately appeal.

There are several ongoing lawsuits trying to stop the border wall.  This case is before Judge Haywood Gilliam for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, who was appointed by Barack Obama.  The left-wing Sierra Club brought suit in that court because it is currently one of the most liberal federal trial courts in the nation.

Courts are not supposed to be “liberal” or “conservative.”  Courts are supposed to interpret the law as written, whether they agree with it or not.  You shouldn’t be able to shop for a more favorable jurisdiction based on the ideological leanings of the specific judges.  But I digress.

The DOJ argued that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue to enforce the National Defense Authorization Act and that, in using the funds, the Defense Department satisfied the requirements of the Act.  Judge Gilliam rejected those arguments.  He also held that the funds could only be used for “unforeseen military requirements,” which do not include construction of a border wall.

However, Judge Gilliam did agree with the Trump administration regarding the National Environmental Policy Act:

One win for the Trump administration in this case is that Gilliam continued to reject Sierra Club’s claims under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  The left has had high hopes that it could block the wall by arguing that building the wall is illegal because the federal government has not gone through NEPA’s cumbersome and time-consuming requirements, but even Gilliam acknowledge that the Department of Homeland Security had authority to waive those requirements, which the department did.

Judge Gilliam certified his decision for immediate appeal.  The Justice Department will now take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, another court notorious for its liberal leanings.